in all my busy-ness, I still have time to think too much
I watched "No Direction Home", the new Bob Dylan documentary, on PBS tonight. There are several scenes from a show somewhere in England, I don't rememer the exact place, but that's not really important. Bobby's there with his electric guitar and his back-up band, and the fans in the crowd are just booing him emphatically because it's not how they saw him the last time, it's not the Bob Dylan they fell in love with. The songs, though, they sound so much fuller with the back up band and get a whole new dimension on electric guitar. The diehard fans don't care, it's not what they came to see.
It's not hard to draw parallels to today's music. Those same fans are in the audience today, talking shit about bands who experiment with their sound, or grow and gain a wider audience. I can't seem to make sense of the obsession with keeping music your own little secret (though admittedly I've been guilty of it a time or two). If you love a band, why wouldn't you want them to try new things? Does anyone really want to hear the same album over and over and over?
I think maybe people find a certain comfort in music. Maybe changing that makes them feel vulnerable. I don't know, just something I'm thinking about right now. Thoughts anyone? Care to expand?